deaths / media / sympathy

[drab]

I don't want to offend anyone, but this has been confusing me for a while.

I don't understand why when certain people die, the media whips up a frenzy and the public fall in line and throw money/sympathy in return.

The Madeleine Mccann story was the first that started to wind me up. I have no idea about why this particular child, among several thousand who go missing every year, was plastered over every paper for weeks on end and is still mentioned regularly whenever possible.

The girl who died in the marathon was slightly more understandable as it was during a major sporting event and in unusual circumstances, but I still fail to see where the outpouring of sympathy comes from. Obviously if you were connected with her in any way it was tragic, but if you'd never met her or had any connection to her, why do you feel more sympathy for her than you do for the thousands of decent strangers who die all the time?

I find people getting upset about Diana or other celebrities very strange, and I find this equally bizarre.

i'm not particularly hard either, i cried when the dog died. Because I knew the dog.